Rolf Harris has been sentenced to five years and nine months for 12 sex offences against four young girls.

He will serve at least half that time in jail, which would make him 87 years old by the time he is released.

At the sentencing hearing, his lawyer pleaded for leniency, saying the 84-year-old is already ''on borrowed time''.

The convicted paedophilia was sentenced by Justice Nigel Sweeney for 12 indecent assaults on four girls in the UK between 1968 and 1986.

Harris showed no reaction when he heard the sentence.

Justice Sweeney said the verdicts of the jury showed Harris "was a sex offender" during the period in question.

"You took advantage of the trust placed in you because of your celebrity status," the judge said at Southwark Crown Court.

"You got a thrill from committing the offences while others were present or nearby."

Justice Sweeney said Harris had shown no remorse for the crimes "at all".

"Your reputation lies in ruins," he said.

"You have no-one to blame but yourself."

The judge added that the main complainant had "suffered severe psychological injury in consequence".

"I have no doubt ... that it was your crimes against her that resulted in her becoming an alcoholic for many years with all that that entailed."

But Justice Sweeney said it was her "brave recovery" from alcoholism that gave her the courage to make the first complaint against Harris which "began the series of events which led to your prosecution and conviction".

Justice Sweeney said he was sure that Harris continued to abuse the main complainant for a decade after the charges he had been tried for, and would be sentenced over.

"You got away with your offending for years."

Justice Sweeney said he would have imposed a higher sentence but was constrained by the law as it was at the time of the offences. Some of the offences carried a term up to life in jail if they had been committed in modern times.

"Only an immediate custodial sentence is appropriate for each (offence)."

Harris will immediately be taken to Wandsworth prison in south west London. He'll then be transferred at a later date to a lower-security facility.

HARRIS COULD FACE DAMAGES CLAIMS

The judge on Friday said the attacks were a ''breach of trust'', especially for the main victim, who was a childhood friend of Harris's daughter Bindi.

Other aggravating factors included the age gap between Harris and his victims, the youngest of whom was seven or eight.

The judge said he wouldn't consider compensation because assessing the psychological harm done to the victims was a complex process. Harris could, however, face a raft of damages claims in the civil courts.

Defence lawyer Sonia Woodley QC on Friday revealed the court had seen medical reports on Harris and his wife Alwen, who wasn't in court on Friday, with a family spokesman saying she was suffering from arthritis.

Woodley also argued, in mitigation, that Harris's attacks were ''opportunistic rather than predatory''.

The barrister added that Harris had no prior convictions and hadn't committed any sexual offences after 1994.

''For the last 20 years he has led an upright life,'' Woodley told Southwark Crown Court.

She said since his arrest was made public in April 2013, his lawyers have received three lever arch files of letters and emails and two sacks of cards from supporters, including young children who have met the entertainer.

''Yes, he must be punished for the offences that he has committed, but it would be unfair to ignore the good that he has done in his life,'' she said.

Woodley noted Harris had been patron of 16 charities during his life.

Since his conviction on Monday, Harris has been publicly shamed and stripped of various honours.

''He has already been punished apart from any sentence imposed by this court,'' Woodley said.

HAUNTED MEMORIES

The court also heard harrowing statements regarding the impact of Harris's indecent assaults on his four victims.

Bindi's friend said in a victim impact statement read to the court that the Australian's abuse had left her feeling ''dirty, grubby and disgusting''.

''The whole sordid saga has traumatised me.''

The woman, now 49, said after she was first abused at the age of 13 she'd had panic attacks, suffered from anxiety and started drinking.

She said as a young girl she'd always wanted to have a career, settle down and have a family.

''However, as a direct result of his actions, this has never materialised,'' she said in the statement read out by prosecution lawyer Esther Schutzer-Weissman.

Australian woman Tonya Lee was assaulted by Harris when she visited London in 1986 as a 15-year-old. She said the incident at a pub was a ''turning point'' in her life from which she never recovered.

''I have never felt safe since, I life in a constant state of anxiety,'' said in her impact statement read out by Schutzer-Weissman.

''What Mr Harris took from me was my very essence. I believe that it was for Mr Harris a forgettable moment, but it was something for me I will never move on from.''

Lee, who developed eating and alcohol problems after the attack, revealed in later life she had her three children removed from her care.

Harris's youngest victim was groped when she asked for his autograph in the late 1960s. She said seeing the star at a community centre was her first taste of independence.

But in those few moments her ''childhood innocence was gone'', she said in her statement.

She subsequently didn't like being touched by men and found it difficult to form relationships.

A fourth victim who was assaulted at a celebrity sporting event in Cambridge when she was a teenager said Harris took advantage of her, making her feel ashamed.

The 52-year-old said the star ''treated me like a toy'' that he could play with for his own pleasure.